


Flaws

by armadil_Lo



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Lance (Voltron), M/M, Season/Series 02, about lance's family and keith's backstory, alongside some delicious angst! yay!, basically this was just an excuse to get my headcanons out there before s3 lmao, but also to write some tooth rotting fluff and bonding, but its not like all-consuming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-04 20:16:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11562561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/armadil_Lo/pseuds/armadil_Lo
Summary: You have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve, and I have always buried them deep beneath the ground.Dig them up. Let’s finish what we started.In which Keith and Lance are there for each other in times of insecurity, confusion and pain, and sharing their vulnerabilities with each other brings them closer together.





	1. Lance

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this beautiful animatic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcNiLpwY87U) by Cellyfish. Based off the song [Flaws](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E36WU9Wzf4) by Bastille.
> 
> I'm pretty sure there was some news about Season 3 from SDCC(?) and maybe the first episode premiered(???) very recently, but I don't wanna go anywhere near that in case of spoilers until it's out on Netflix. So if anything was confirmed or denied that makes this fic inaccurate in any way, shape or form, I apologise. (I don't know how it would, but just in case lol.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set between scenes in S2 Episode 4 - after leaving Olkarion, before gathering in the bridge.

There’s a palpable feeling of triumph in the air as Keith walks out of Red. The team had returned to the castle after freeing the Olkari from the Galra invaders on their planet and they all gather in the middle of the hangar now with grins on their faces.

Hunk immediately turns to Pidge and starts ranting about _“how freaking cool that vine canon is!”_ with Lance chiming in enthusiastically every now and then too. Shiro removes his helmet and turns to Keith, nudging him gently with an elbow in his way of expressing affection. Keith feels his shoulders shaking with contained laughter and sees his friend’s doing the same.

“Alright, alright,” Shiro interrupts fondly, turning to the others. Hunk freezes in the middle of his wild gesticulating, arms up in the air above him. “We can talk about this later when we debrief the mission in the bridge. For now, let’s all take a moment to rest or eat, okay?” Hunk’s arms fall to his sides as he and Pidge both nod at their leader’s suggestion. Shiro places a hand on Pidge’s shoulder before she and Hunk can turn to leave and looks down at her. “We’re all really proud of what you did today.”

Her eyes practically seem to shine as she smiles widely at Shiro’s comment. Keith knows the feeling - he’d be surprised if any of them weren’t familiar with the warmth that came from Shiro’s genuine pride at their accomplishments.

The five of them split up to change out of their armour, and Keith finds himself venturing towards the kitchen once he’s in his own clothes. Around the corner, he can already hear Hunk and Pidge’s laughter spilling through the hallways. 

What he _doesn’t_ expect to see when he rounds the corner is Lance hovering in the open doorway to the kitchen with an odd expression on his face. Keith comes to a halt. 

It’s clear that Lance is watching whatever antics his two friends are up to, but he almost looks sad as he does so. It’s such a foreign expression to be on Lance’s face that Keith feels all of the air rushing out of him. Normally, Lance would be bounding in there himself to join in, adding his own laughter to the chorus. But as Keith watches, he bows his head slightly and shoves his hands in his pockets before he turns and walks the other way.

Concern pools in his chest for his teammate. It’s just so unlike the Lance that he has come to know. So he goes to follow him.

Pidge calls out to him as he passes by, but Keith doesn’t even register what she says.

He follows Lance through the castle, catching up and walking just a few paces behind him. He’s positive Lance knows he’s there, if the way his shoulders tense up is any indication, but he doesn’t look back. They reach the bridge, and Keith is surprised to find Allura and Coran nowhere to be found. He stops just inside the entrance and frowns at the back of Lance’s jacket, wondering what he’s up to. His teammate makes for the center stairs and for a fleeting moment Keith irrationally thinks he’s going to try flying the castle from Allura’s console for some reason - but then Lance walks around it, over to Shiro’s station, and disappears from view as he sits down in front of it.

Keith has no idea what’s going on. He almost turns and leaves entirely, but then he remembers the way Lance was looking into the kitchen and he knows he’d kick himself later if he didn’t at least _try_ talking to the other boy.

Keith approaches from the other side and finds Lance calmly staring at the stars, sitting with his back leant against Shiro’s console and his grey hoodie pulled over his head. He finally turns to look at Keith and gives him a tired smile, patting the floor next to him. Keith hesitates before he sits down by Lance’s right side.

“Are you okay?” he says slowly.

Instead of answering, Lance’s gaze returns to the stars. There’s a pause before he asks, “What do you think my thing is, Keith?”

“Huh?” is Keith’s eloquent reply, equal parts worried and confused now. Lance’s tone was light enough, but the weird look on his face is back. 

“You know, my _thing_. I’m not the leader, I’m not the fighter, or the brains, or the altruist.” Lance counts off the four roles on his fingers, one for each other team member. On any other occasion, Keith probably would have made a comment about how he’s surprised Lance even knows a word like altruist, despite it’s accuracy for describing Hunk. But he bites his lip and holds it back instead as Lance shakes his head and chuckles now. “I mean, _obviously_ I’m the ridiculously charming ladies man of Team Voltron, but…” Lance’s shoulders sag and the beginnings of a cocky grin that had started forming on his lips disappear. He doesn’t finish the sentence.

“Did you ever ask Allura what kind of pilot the blue lion chooses?” Keith asks after a moment, because he thinks that’s what Lance is getting at.

“Yeah,” Lance answers with a nod. “She said something like charismatic and determined. But I mean, that doesn’t exactly account for useless, does it?”

An icy cold feeling spreads through Keith’s veins at the bitter words, and he reaches out to place a hand on the other boy’s forearm. “Lance, you’re not _useless.”_ He bites his lip at the silent shrug he gets in return. Surely he doesn’t really believe that he adds nothing to the team? Of _course_ he does. He’s _Lance._ Keith opens his mouth to try to put it into words, but finds himself pausing and gently asking, “What’s wrong?” instead. He can’t shake the feeling that something must have happened to prompt this feeling - that it’s more a symptom of something else.

Lance sighs heavily. “I think I just miss my family.”

“Oh.” Keith can understand that at least. It’s an easier issue to tackle than unwarranted insecurity. He may never have had a big family himself, but he knows what it’s like to miss people that are close to you. To wonder if you’ll ever see them again. “Yeah. Uh, Varadero Beach, right? That’s in… Cuba?”

“How did you know that?” Lance questions, looking over at Keith with his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“You and Hunk were literally talking about it, like, two feet away from me.” He might not have been involved in the conversation per se, but he’d heard what had been said just over his shoulder. He huffs at Lance’s blank look. “At the Arusian party? Before you went and got yourself blown up,” he supplies, a seed of their typical faux hostility slipping into his tone.

After a beat, Lance’s lips pull up into a smirk. “So,” he drawls, something sly in his voice now, “you were eavesdropping.”

Keith snatches his hand away from Lance’s arm as if he’s been burnt. “What?” he scoffs. “No, I _wasn’t_. You were right next to me! As if I wouldn’t be able to hear your obnoxious voice from two feet away.” He tries to ignore the blush he feels rising on his cheeks.

“Uh huh. _Sure_ you weren’t, buddy.” Lance leans to the side and bumps their shoulders together, laughing when Keith continues to grumble about the accusation. Keith is just glad to see him smiling again.

The mood dampens a little when Lance turns back to the stars, the corners of his mouth still turned up. He really does seem fixated on them tonight; Keith is pretty sure it’s because it reminds him of Earth. He hasn’t been homesick much himself since the first few weeks, but he thinks if he were that he might like to come here sometimes to admire the view as well. That being said, he tears his eyes away from the sight of Lance’s profile, and gazes out at the unfamiliar constellations slowly moving past them. They sit in silence for a long while.

Eventually, Keith breaks the quiet. “Tell me about them.”

“My family?” Lance clarifies.

“Yeah.” He knows Lance’s family is pretty big judging by what he’s seen in the mind melding activity on the training deck. But he wants details now. Names to put to faces and personalities coloured by Lance’s relationships with them. Maybe talking will help.

And judging by the way Lance’s whole damn face just lights up, he’s pretty sure it will.

“Alright then. Where do I even start? I’m the second child out of four,” Lance begins. He shuffles to spin his body and face Keith properly. Keith does the same in return, giving Lance his full attention, nodding when he sees fit. “I have an older sister; her name is Marietta. She’s four years older than me and she’s honestly really great. We used to hate each other when we were little and we’d have fights all the time, but then when I hit high school age she started tolerating me. She had to go off to college of course, but we’re still pretty close. She’s really amazing, she studied law but she’s not one of those people who’s just constantly stressed about being on top. She knows that she’s smart and she believes in herself and she did really well, and apparently she’s absolutely kickass in a courtroom. She’d just gotten engaged to her boyfriend, Troy, a few months before this all started. Troy’s a really nice guy too. He’s pretty chill, he teaches biology. He and Mari were high school sweethearts and they’re a really good match for each other. We only really see them at Christmas nowadays but we used to call each other at least once a week.

“Then there’s my little brother and sister, Carlos and Sofie. Carlos is I think almost nine years younger than me? And Sofie is a couple years younger than him. They’re both really sweet kids, and really talented for their ages too. Carlos is seriously the best at drawing and he’s only ten! It’s just something he’s always done, he used to spend hours and hours doodling and colouring as a toddler, and he just never stopped. I can’t even draw a good stick figure, his art is insane. He knows it too, the little _granuja,_ he’s so confident. And Sofie is like this little child prodigy at maths, I swear to God. It’s like in that movie Matilda, she just knows everything without even touching a calculator. She’s a tiny little kid and she’s even got Mari beat. She’s a little more shy about it, she doesn’t like to brag or anything. She has some cheek though, she does. I think she got her sarcasm from Aunt Claire. But yeah, Sofie and Carlos are really close and they look out for each other in school. They’ve both had a couple scraps with some bullies, but nothing too bad. They’re a strong little duo. And they love crawling on top of you and pinning you down when you’re sleeping so that you can’t move even though they’ve literally just woken you up. Fun fact, Marietta and I are both McClain’s because our parents were pretty young when they had us and we took our Ma’s name for some reason. But they got married when I was six and a half - I was the ringbearer - so Carlos and Sophie are both _del Valle_ instead.

“Pa was born and raised in Cuba but Ma is from Illinois in the United States. She studied Spanish all through her school years and decided to go on a big trip by herself through South America for a year instead of going to college. She started down the bottom and went through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Brazil and Colombia. She always promised she’d take me on the same trip one day. She ended up making one last stop in Cuba before she was going to go home, but the car she was renting broke down. And guess who was doing an apprenticeship at the local mechanic’s when she came in? After that, she fell in love with the place and with Pa obviously, and just never really left. She’s mostly been a stay-at-home mom since then, but she doesn’t mind. She picked up a few cleaning jobs when they were saving up for the wedding. My parents are great too. Pa works really hard for all of us but he’s always been really easy to talk to about things. And Ma is honestly like my rock. I guess I’m pretty much the definition of a mama’s boy, but I do just love her a lot. She always knows exactly what to say and what to do. She can be a little fussy and a little strict, but I know that she just wants what’s best for us, and she’s never been anything but one hundred percent supportive of me.”

Lance pauses for the first time since he started talking. His voice had started wavering in the last few sentences and Keith doesn’t miss the way his eyes begin to pool with tears. Keith has no doubt his mother is an amazing woman.

Lance seems determined to finish describing his family though and collects himself with a deep breath before he barrells on.

“Then there’s _Abuelo del Valle_ \- my dad’s dad. He’s always spent a lot of time at our house. He used to babysit Mari and I when Ma and Pa both had to work, and then he helped out with Carlos when Sofie was a newborn. Even when Ma stopped working and Mari and I were old enough to look after the other two, he still came over all the time to bring us gifts and sweets. _Abuelo_ has this tough, stern exterior but he’s secretly just a giant teddy bear. He only speaks Spanish, and so does Pa, but he’s always made an effort with English as well even though he apparently didn’t like Ma at first. He was a single dad after his wife died when I think Pa was around fifteen, so he was pretty protective, and now he’s protective over all of us really. He was the first one to comfort Marietta when she had her first breakup, the first one to open his arms when I told the family I was bi. That kind of thing, y’know?”

_Lance is bisexual?_ Keith realises that this really isn’t the time to question that though and pockets it for later. He nods and smiles, encouraging Lance to go on. The other boy looks like a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders already.

“There’s also Uncle Antony and Aunt Claire. They’re kind of a strange pair because they’re so different but somehow they make it work. Antony is dad’s younger brother by about ten years and he’s got the fun uncle vibe totally down. He’s this big dude who likes surfing and cooking and making people smile - Hunk actually reminds me a lot of him - but he never really found his calling I guess. He stays at home and looks after the children. And by children, I mean his and Claire’s dogs. They have four tiny pomeranians at their place in California, it’s adorable. Aunt Claire always seemed like his complete opposite though. She’s an accountant and she’s literally all work and no play. She’s strict and sarcastic and kind of uptight, but I mean, she and Antony make each other happy so that’s all that matters in the end.

“And lastly, there’s Auntie Karen and Nana McClain. They live back in Illinois, so we’ve never seen them all that much. Karen’s a midwife and she never got married or had her own kids, so Nana moved in with her after Granddad passed just before I went to the Garrison. I don’t know them very well but they’re both pretty nice and happy people. We stayed with Nana and Granddad once for Christmas when I was seven, but I haven’t been back since. They still send cards and presents for every birthday though, and Ma usually calls them both on New Year’s Eve too.”

Lance finishes describing the last of his family members, and though he still looks a little sad, Keith knows he really enjoyed talking about them for the first time in so many months.

“I get why you must miss them,” he murmurs. “I can tell you love your family a lot.”

Lance nods. “I really do.” He seems to think about saying something more and Keith lets him take his time. “I think I mostly miss the way that they made me a better person though. And not just in the sense that I’d always be on my best behaviour when my parents were around or something, because that would be absolute quiznak. I mean things like Ma smacking me over the head for overcompensating on my love for girls. We were technically raised to be Catholic, you know? It always made me more kind of… hesitant. To be bi. It took me way too long to admit it. And now that she’s not around again, I just pour it on with every good looking girl I see.” He laughs a little and Keith finds himself doing so as well. “And Mari was always amazing with words, she knew just what to say to me whenever I’d call her if I was feeling a bit left out or a bit useless. She’d just list off all of these things about me and told me she believed in me, and that would always boost my ego back up. Even though she’s my sister so she’s kind of supposed to say that stuff. But they _all_ believed in me _so much_ when I went to Galaxy Garrison. Carlos and Sofie always looked up to me like I was a hero for following my dreams and becoming a space cadet. They would all cheer me on and wish me luck and they never cared if I was first or second or anything else…” Lance trails off and glances down at his hands in his lap before looking back up at Keith, suddenly almost bashful.

It takes a moment for it to click. And when it does, he knows his jaw goes slack in surprise. He doesn’t really remember Lance from the Garrison that much, but Lance must have placed a lot of importance on being a fighter pilot, being number one, being better than Keith himself.

Keith blinks, unsure what to say, and Lance just shrugs.

“So yeah. I miss them.”

Lance goes to turn away, to situate his body back so he'd be facing the stars instead of facing Keith. He reaches out and catches Lance’s forearm once more, and the two of them lock eyes. Keith doesn’t know what exactly it is he wants to say. _You shouldn’t have been jealous of me. You shouldn’t feel useless here, or anywhere. You shouldn’t have kept this to yourself._ Lance’s blue eyes search his own grey irises.

He settles on, “We’re a family now too. You know that, right?”

Lance seems to consider it. And Keith means it - Team Voltron is a family in their own right. Shiro has always been like an older brother to him, but he’s never felt as close with any one group of people as he does now. If he were to really spend time thinking about it, he’d probably be terrified by just how much he cares for the others. He’d be devastated if anything ever happened to one of them while they were out risking their lives every day. Even Lance. Especially Lance.

Who breaks Keith out of his thoughts now by finally huffing and stating quite plainly, “That was pretty gay.”

Baffled, Keith splutters out, “You _just_ told me that you’re bisexual!” He’s almost offended again, like he was when Lance denied the bonding moment they’d shared after almost losing the Castle of Lions to Sendak. And even though he knows Lance was mostly joking then, and definitely is now, he can’t help but be just a little annoyed at the fact that Lance never seems to take these moments seriously.

“Exactly. So I’m allowed to say that.” Lance says it like it makes any sense at all. _“You_ wouldn’t be allowed to though.”

“Oh my God, I _am_ gay,” Keith cries, eyes rolling in frustration at Lance’s classic behaviour.

“Oh,” Lance snickers. “I didn’t know.” He seems almost giddy now, laughing quietly. Keith just watches him with masked amusement as he gathers himself. At some point, his hand slides down to catch Lance’s, and their fingers interlock. He isn’t really sure who initiates that.

“No, but for real, it’s nice to talk about them again,” Lance tells him, tone sincere and expression grateful now. “Thank you for listening, Keith. You’re right, we are a family. I might miss mine on Earth, but that doesn’t mean I’m alone.”

Keith nods, glad that Lance understands what he was getting at. And for a brief moment, he thinks about telling Lance everything. He can feel the knife sitting in its holster on his lower back, and almost brings it up. Almost brings up why he was questioning Coran about the blue lion’s previous paladin, about how ever since he’s seen that symbol on Ulaz’s weapon it’s been plaguing his thoughts more and more when he’s alone. About how he got the knife, or rather how he _doesn’t know_ how he got it, and how he has no clue what that means.

He pushes those thoughts away for another time. Instead, he reaches up to place his other hand on Lance’s neck and gently pulls him forward, closing his eyes and resting their foreheads against each other’s. He means it as a gesture of solidarity, he supposes - it’s something Shiro did, once, right before he left on the Kerberos mission. It had comforted Keith at the time; felt like a promise to always be there, a promise to return. But then Keith opens his eyes and sees the expression Lance is wearing. He swallows.

Lance is barely breathing, eyes wide and pupils dilated, flicking down to Keith’s lips. Something shifts immediately, like the air in the room turns up fifty degrees, and suddenly the gesture feels like something a lot more intimate than originally intended. Keith is frozen in anticipation now. It feels like standing on the edge of a cliff with his toes hanging off, just waiting for the gust of wind to tip him over. Lance leans in.

The two of them jump at the sound of the automatic doors opening from across the room. It's accompanied by voices and they spring apart, untangling their fingers and scrambling to their feet.

“There you are,” Shiro calls out to the both of them. “We’re going to debrief now if you two are ready.” Shiro seems totally oblivious to what he and Lance were just doing, sitting in front of his station - _we weren’t doing anything, nothing happened_ \- and Keith refuses to look over at Lance as they step up into the center of the controls. He can’t if he’s going to be able to keep his face straight.

“What were you two up to over there then?” Coran asks though. _Damn._

“Just talking, looking at the stars,” is Lance’s smooth reply. Keith peeks a glance at him from the corner of his eye. He looks calm and collected, as per usual. Keith nods along with his story, taking a deep breath in an attempt to keep calm himself.

Hunk and Allura look somewhat suspicious, but they’re all distracted as Pidge starts excitedly recounting her version of events, taking a seat down on the edge of Allura’s console. They end up gathering in a semicircle around her, Lance on one side next to Hunk and Keith on the other by Allura. Lance’s full concentration is on Pidge now, it seems.

Anything Keith was going to say back there, anything that he was going to _do,_ can be put aside for now. Maybe forever if he can get away with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to address the "That's pretty gay"/"I'm bi so I'm allowed to say that" joke Lance made really quickly - This genuinely isn't me being disrespectful or ignorant or anything; I identify as queer myself, and me and my other LGBT+ friends use that kind of language jokingly from time to time. So please know that I sincerely apologise if anybody was offended and that it wasn't my intention to be harmful in any way.
> 
> (Also sorry for the literal info dump omg. I just have a lot of thoughts about that one family photo we've seen hahah.)
> 
> <3


	2. Keith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set between S2 Episodes 8 and 9.

It takes a lot of protesting for Kolivan to let the paladins rest up for a while. Normally Lance would be leaping into the conversation, joining the others as they try to convince the leader of the Blade of Marmora to slow down just a little bit. But he’s hardly paying attention to them.

He’s worried.

Keith is standing off to the side, just behind Shiro. The folded arms and brooding nature aren’t anything out of the ordinary, but the tormented look on his face is. He looks pained. Lost.

“At least give them a few vargas,” Allura’s sharp voice cuts in. Lance tears his eyes away from Keith to look at her as she addresses Kolivan. “They have been jumping from mission to mission almost without stopping for several quintants. You want them to be performing at their best, don’t you? _Right now_ can wait. Zarkon isn’t going anywhere.”

Kolivan seems hesitant to agree. He’s obviously eager to start work immediately, but he lets his gaze flicker over the team in consideration. He lingers on Keith for a moment before opening his mouth.

Coran cuts in first before he can respond. “Princess Allura and I will be happy to discuss things with you in the control room while the others get some food and rest. We can simply relay anything we think of to them later.”

“I’ll join you as well,” Shiro chimes in, regarding Kolivan with a look of distrust.

This seems to satisfy the Galra rebel. He nods and goes to follow when the two Alteans begin to make their way out of the hangar. Lance glances over at Keith, only to find him already making his own hasty exit. Something isn’t right here.

“Wait.” He grabs Shiro by the arm before he can walk away too. “What happened down there? Is Keith okay?” He needs to _know._

Shiro opens his mouth to reply, but it’s Kolivan who speaks. “He awoke the ceremonial blade.” Lance sees Pidge and Hunk look at each other out of the corner of his eye. The leader of the Blade has stopped walking a few paces behind Coran and Allura, who’ve also turned back to the discussion now.

“He did _what_ exactly?” Lance asks with a frown.

Shiro sighs and gently pulls his arm from Lance’s grasp. He looks uncomfortable when he speaks. “Keith had a knife with the Blade of Marmora symbol on it. They thought he’d stolen it, but he said he’d had it all his life. He wanted to know what it meant. So they made him do these… _trials.”_ Shiro shoots a glare over his shoulder at Kolivan. Clearly whatever happened was something that he didn’t approve of. It would explain why the red lion was attacking the base, and the limp Keith had been trying to hide when he disembarked from Red. 

“Long story short, Keith is part-Galra,” Shiro finishes.

A shocked silence descends over the group like a heavy fog. Lance feels it seeping into his bones, rooting him to the spot and seizing his vocal chords. He vaguely hears a disgusted noise of protest come from Allura, but it barely registers. _Well that came out of the blue._

Shiro’s lips twitch at the expressions his younger teammates must be wearing. “I know. I would just give him some space for now.” Then he turns to leave, and he and the other leaders disappear through the door that leads them back to the bridge.

Lance finds his head turned to the side, staring at the door across the hangar that Keith left through. _Give him space?_ The last time Lance wanted some space, Keith had followed him. Had listened to him, had laid off the teasing and bickering, had simply offered him his support and companionship. 

Hell would have to freeze over to stop Lance from returning the gesture now.

When he finds his legs can move again, he makes a beeline in the direction Keith went.

“Lance, don’t,” Pidge calls after him.

“Didn’t you hear what Shiro said?” Hunk sounds stunned that Lance would go against their leader’s advice.

“I did,” he shoots back without looking at them. “But I don’t agree.” And then the door is closing behind him and he’s left alone with his thoughts as he speed walks through the hallways. Somehow he knows that Keith is in his room, that he probably feels like he can’t face the rest of them right now. But Lance honestly couldn’t give two quiznaks if Keith is part-Galra or full Galra or some other kind of alien race altogether. He’s _Keith_. Lance knows who he is, no matter what blood is running through his veins.

The automatic doors to Keith’s room slide open to reveal the other boy sitting on the ground by his bed, helmet tossed aside. He’s tied his hair back and is slouching over a large, curved sword with a glowing purple line running along its sharp edge, turning it over in his hands.

Worry knits Lance’s brows together. He pulls off his own helmet and holds it against his hip. “Thought you said we’re a family, man.”

Keith jumps a little and his head snaps up, eyes wide. “Lance,” he breathes. He takes one look at his teammate and seems to realise that he knows what Keith discovered down at the Blade’s headquarters. Lance lingers in the doorway, watching as Keith lowers his head like he’s ashamed. Then the weapon in his hands begins to shine brightly, and when Lance blinks it’s transformed into the smaller knife that he’s sure he’s seen once or twice before. Keith places it on the ground to his left and opens his mouth to say something. He closes it a moment later and sighs softly. It feels like he wants to say something but has no idea how, or perhaps even where to start.

Lance ventures the rest of the way inside the room and plops himself onto the ground next to Keith. He crosses his legs, one knee pressing against Keith’s, and places his own helmet down. “Come on then,” he prods, keeping his tone light. “We never finished our conversation last time, and I think now might be as good a time as any.”

“What..?” is Keith’s confused response.

“I told you about my family and my flaws. We never got around to your turn,” Lance explains simply.

Keith still just frowns. “My turn?” Lance restrains himself from rolling his eyes. Now is not the time; he needs to tread carefully. Maybe be a little more clear.

“Yeah, your turn.” Lance gives a small shrug, then lowers his voice and removes some of the humour from his tone. “You don’t have to keep things to yourself either, you know.”

Keith’s lips form a small circle. “Oh… I mean, yeah, just.” His words are halting and awkward now. “I don’t - I don’t really… _do_ that.”

“I’m listening. Dig it up,” Lance encourages him. He leans back so he’s resting against the side of the bed. That way Keith, who is still slumped forward over his knees, doesn’t have to make any eye contact if he doesn't want to. Lance feels like that might help.

Keith turns to look over his shoulder. He searches Lance’s face for a moment before he lets out a long breath and relents, looking back at the ground in front of him.

“I… I never knew my mother. I grew up in Arizona but my dad was from Texas. He died when I was fourteen. Car accident. It kind of left a… a hole in my chest.” Keith shakes his head at himself. “That sounds weird, it was more like I felt… hollow. Shiro filled the hole for a long time - he was neighbours with my foster parents. He always treated me like an equal. I kind of idolised him.”

Lance could relate to that.

“When he went away to the Garrison, he made the effort to keep in contact, even though we’d barely known each other for a year. We were close - we, we _are_ close. He’s the closest thing I have to a brother. When… when they said that he’d died, on the Kerberos mission, it was like… I just snapped. The hole was so big I thought it would tear me in half. I didn’t care about anything anymore, I didn’t care about my grades or the stupid flight school, I just wanted Shiro back. I was so _angry_ all the time suddenly. The Garrison kicked me out and I was happy to go.”

Lance thinks back to a time where he distinctly remembers seeing Keith being dragged away kicking and screaming from a fist fight he’d picked with the biggest, bulkiest student at the Galaxy Garrison. He’s fairly certain that was the only time he’d seen Keith after the news, and it was the last time he’d seen him at the Garrison at all. Next thing he knew, he was being promoted to a fighter pilot and all thoughts of his and Keith’s (one-sided) rivalry were forgotten. That was, until he spotted that damn mullet through Pidge’s binoculars on the night all of this began.

There’s a pause in the story, like Keith doesn’t know where to go next. Lance sees him glance down at the knife as he gathers his thoughts, but they seem scrambled now that he’s reached the present.

“When I saw the symbol on Ulaz’s sword - I had no idea that this _thing_ I’ve just _had_ all my life was so important… That it was my only link to my mother…”

Lance wonders if that’s why Keith’s been a little more testy lately. He’d been getting progressively more on edge about the Blade of Marmora ever since he and Allura came back from their… Anyway, it’s not like Lance hadn’t noticed. He’s sure the others did too. So he wonders if maybe Keith knew somehow. Or if he just had a hunch.

Keith leaves that train of thought behind and takes a deep breath before continuing. “I saw my dad in there today.”

“What? How?” Lance thought Keith had pretty much just said it was his mother who was most likely Galra.

“It was stupid; I’m pretty sure it was some kind of hallucination. Shiro was there, but I don’t think the real Shiro would have said those things now that I think about it. But then I ran into the next room, and Dad was there. In my shack. And I hadn’t heard his voice in _so long.”_ Keith whispers the last two words, balling his hands into fists. “But Zarkon and the Galra were attacking Earth outside and I had to leave him behind.” Keith sighs and unclenches his fingers. His hair is falling in his face at the front, so Lance can’t see his eyes, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Keith was close to tears right now.

“I don’t know. It’s not as bad as it was the first two times, but it just kind of feels like the hole is back.” Lance’s heart jumps to his throat and he reaches out to place a hand on Keith’s shoulder. He’s trembling slightly. “I’m Galra, but what does that _mean?_ Who was my mother, and how did she meet my dad? Did he know about Zarkon? About _Voltron?_ And what… what happened to my mother, is she still out there somewhere? I just want _answers,_ Lance. And I’ll do almost anything to find them.” _To find_ her.

Lance senses that Keith is finished telling his story now. His thoughts were more jumbled, less articulate in a way than Lance had been when he was sharing about his family. But Lance supposes that’s because he’s used to talking things through when he needs to get stuff off his chest. Keith isn’t. His story, the words and sentences, don’t flow neatly. But they don’t have to. Lance is glad that he found the courage to share at all.

He pushes himself upright again so that he can lean forward to try to catch Keith’s eyes now. “We can help you. To find answers.” Lance squeezes Keith’s shoulder, and sees him wince in pain. He must’ve injured it during the trials.

The words take a moment to sink in before Keith looks up at Lance questioningly. Yeah, his eyes are a little watery.

“About your mother,” Lance continues gently. “Don’t get me wrong, Team Voltron is still one hundred percent your actual family now, but… you know. If you ever wanted to find her, I’m sure everyone would want to help you out. I know I would.”

Keith nods slowly a few times, mulling it over in his head. They’re quiet for a long moment, and Lance finds his hand slipping from Keith’s shoulder and down to his hand again. Keith absentmindedly slots their fingers together and a warm feeling bubbles in Lance’s chest.

Lance can’t help himself from commenting, “I guess that explains why you could just put your hand on the handprint back on the Balmera.”

Keith cracks a small smile at that, breathes out a single huff of laughter. Some of the tension leaks from his shoulders and he looks up at Lance with soft, grey eyes.

“Thanks,” he says quietly, sincerely. _Thanks for being here. For listening._

Lance nudges him with his elbow, something he thinks he’s picked up from Shiro. “Right back at ya, buddy.” _For listening the first time around, and for telling me all of this now._ He shoots Keith a warm smile. “We’re not alone out here, okay? Neither of us are.”

Keith nods and straightens up, seeming satisfied to leave the conversation there. Lance picks up on the cues and stands, pulling Keith up with him too. “Come on, Hunk’s probably gone to whip us up another batch of delicious food goo. Then we can meet up with Allura and go kick some Zarkon ass.” He goes to leave the room, hand still holding Keith’s, when he hears the other boy chuckle behind him and he turns to see his smile.

He doesn’t miss the fact that Keith’s smile is coupled with a look of complete adoration. It makes him pause in his tracks and he falls still. He really hopes Keith doesn’t notice the blush he can feel heating up his cheeks, that he can’t hear Lance’s heart pounding loudly in his ears now.

Keith raises his other hand - Lance watches its almost imperceptible shaking - and places it on the back of Lance’s neck. Lance thinks he’s going to do that thing and press their foreheads together again, so he lets out a small breath and rolls his eyes. If that’s how Keith shows affection, then that’s fine by him. He won’t be taken aback by it like he was last time at least. Lance starts to lean in with a smile.

But just before they gently knock their heads together, Keith slips his eyes shut and tilts his chin up, pressing their lips together instead.

Lance’s eyes widen in shock for a brief moment before he closes them too and melts into the kiss. He lets go of Keith’s hand and brings his arms up to embrace him, pressing their bodies flush as their lips move slowly and sweetly in unison. Keith throws his arms around Lance’s neck and tips his head to the side for a better angle.

Kissing Keith is different to how Lance always imagined it might go. If anything, he expected their first kiss to be heated, passionate, messy, probably in the middle of one of their stupid arguments. 

Instead, Keith finally pulls away and they open their eyes to see dopey smiles and pink cheeks. And Lance realises that he infinitely prefers seeing this sweeter, gentler side of Keith - a side that seems just as much reserved for him and him alone as does the side that gets so easily riled up and drawn into competition.

When Lance really thinks about it, it seems Keith laid his cards down on the table a long time ago.

He brushes some hair out of Keith’s eyes and wonders aloud, “How did it take us so long to do that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Lance's chapter was so much longer lmaooo. Favouritism? Pfft, whatever could you mean.)

**Author's Note:**

>  _*BURSTS INTO THE ROOM, PANTING*_ I FINALLY STARTED WATCHING, BINGED AND FINISHED VOLTRON LIKE LITERALLY LESS THAN A WEEK AGO AND IT HAS TAKEN OVER MY LIFE. I’ve literally just like ditched all my responsibilities to read Klance fanfics and analyse Lance’s family photo to come up with my own headcanons and watch fuckin Voltron crack/shitposts/memes on youtube until 5am. But then I also found [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcNiLpwY87U) absolutely stunning animatic and I’m like “lmaoo screw university, screw all the other fics I’m meant to be writing, I need to get this out nOW” >.>
> 
> So yeah, this is my first piece of fic for Voltron. There’ll probably be more?? I just really hope that I managed to get a good balance of the portrayal of their characters, but also of the emotions they’re feeling (despite it being the other’s POV during their flaw/family sharing moments). Anyway pls don’t judge too harshly,,
> 
> I don’t have a tumblr specifically for Voltron yet but honestly I’m thinking of making a sideblog for it and if I do I’ll edit this and link it here haha. Until then, if you wanna find me on tumblr, you can do so at [armadil-lauren](http://armadil-lauren.tumblr.com) :)
> 
>  
> 
> **EDIT: I made my sideblog! You can now also find me at[armadil-paladins](http://armadil-paladins.tumblr.com) too!**
> 
>  
> 
> Sorry for this super long end note omg? Hope you enjoyed <3


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